Tag Archives: Interesting

from interesting sites, happening to everyday lifes

Gamification Singapore and You are wanted!

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Recently my dear friend joel adds me into their new found page Gamification Singapore. I saw the word #gamification trending on twitter but do not really understand what was it about.

So what is gamification? well according to wiki

Gamification is the use of game play thinking[1] and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences. Typically gamification applies to non-game applications (also known as “funware“),[2] particularly consumer-oriented web and mobile sites, in order to encourage people to adopt the applications.

And how did  Gamification Singapore come about? There have been a lot of talk about Gamification in US/Europe. More recently, the first workshop on “gamification” was convened in CHI 2011. With the growing of internet startups in Singapore together with the push from the government (Not only that there are funds that encourage entrepreneurship, there are also more TV programs on entrepreneurship nowadays for example: growing big ideas) Joel and his friends believes that gamification could be another innovation area that Singapore startups could move into. Hence, the plans for forming a Gamification Singapore community started motion in August 2011.

In fact, when Joel told told me about this I was very excited, but the first question I ask him was – do you need to be a coder to join this group? No coding required he said, anyone can join coders & non-coders, this way ideas are explore and maybe new ventures could be form.

So Gamification Singapore’s BIG Goal is to eventually make Singapore into a more fun and enjoyable place to live in. They are looking to gather like-minded people to join them in meetups/discussion. You may be someone who:
- wants to share your knowledge of game mechanics etc
- have experience applying gamification/game design into your scope of work
- wants to share your creation story, or gather feedback about a certain product/service involving gamification
- researches about Game Design/Gamification/Serious Games
- wants to learn more about Gamification/Game Design
- or simply just anybody who wants to know more and meetup with more people! (like here)

And my friends if you are looking to explore into a new area of startups beside the current trend of LBS, this may be a new direction you could be exploring. In fact, my new found venture has just been added with a touch of gaming with the help of Joel and his friends.

The first official meetup is scheduled to be in November 2011

twitter allows me to seek info from experts around the world

As I explored into deeper into #gamification. I happend to find Amy. She is is an internationally recognized expert in online social architecture. She
has designed social architecture for Electronic Arts/Maxis/Origin, Digital Chocolate, MTV/Harmonix, eBay, There.com, Yahoo!, and others.  She gave a talk at Smart Gamification GDC2011 this year and I got her presentations that I like to share with everyone :)

Smart Gamification GDC2011

View more presentations from Amy Kim
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Selling in Singapore flea market – 5 mistakes to note

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20110619-021637.jpg

Yesterday, I completed one of my new year resolution  and that was to something about retailing. So I had my first flea market set up at Scape Park with coloursme.com

I did not make a profit but I gain valuable experiences and I certainly would want to do it again. We walk around and visited the various flea stalls that were gathering with crowds and came up with some pointers that we were lacking.

  1. Location, Location and Location – This is very very important. Because for the scape park flea market that we had rented the stall we were told to choose any tables under the selected tent. Even that we were told to arrived at 12pm to register, there were already other blogshop owners that were already there “chomping” the best table avalibale – the table sits where the main stream of traffic passes through and you need to take note that lights and fan should be located above the table. The light will help as the sky turns dark and the fan will make sure you and your customers feels cool
  2. More selections of clothes - We were given the option to bring a 1m clothes rack but because we have limited selections we only hang up what we have on hand. On the other hand, other vendors pack their clothes rack like sardine. This gives the customers more choices and because of the wide variety it was able to attract more passersby to give it a look
  3. Flyers – Besides acting as a promotion material, it can also act as a tool to initiates your first conversation with the customer. For example. Hi, this is our site listed on this flyer do visit our online store for more selections. And also here is the section for tops, the one on sales are over at the tables. And these range are going at $10 per piece.
  4. Beautify your table – We also have a 3m by 3m table that we used to place some of our products but we did not fully utilize and beautify the table. It was rather dull compared to the rest of the vendors.
  5. KYCW (know your customer WELL)- At the flea market, its about about price competition. We were planning various pricing strategies but it did not hold. When we were there even there were customers browsing through our clothes we were to compete on price. So the next thing we did was to lower of prices. And what next was making our first sale.

Pricing

So people if you are planning to starts your first flea market, let my mistakes be your guidance and I wish you people all the best. And for those who are in marketing (NUS BBA) do try your selling skills in a flea market you meet all sorts of people.

Making movie with no capital and just advertising!

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When we think about making movies, we usually think of huge capitals or funding. This guy came up with a great idea. It is just like making a movie with no money down. This is what I call true Entrepreneurship! … Continue reading →

My new BOB Tote from timbuk2 have arrived!!!

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Finally, after BOB have traveled half way around the world he has finally arrived. I am so happy that I would like to share my happiness with everyone :)

He started out from US, then to Korea, follow by HK and across the sea to ShenZhen before landing at Singapore at 11.20AM – 22 Oct 2010.

Let's welcome Bob from US

I just want to say I love timbuk2 bags. I owned a Timbuk2 messenger bag, a data dump and now its BOB tote.

Why is it called BOB. Because

No matter which way you spell it, Bob is two bags in one. Outside (or in), he’s mellow and matte. Inside (or out), he’s sexy and slick. Constructed of durable, waterproof Tarpaulin fabric, Bob is ready for drippy produce and weekend wardrobes. Carry him as a tote, cart him as a shoulder bag, or sling him as a Messenger. > quote from timbuk2 site

Blogging

This is mine

Blogging

This belongs to Tongye's

Another friend of mine,who is also a fellow Timbuk2 fan also purchase a silver BOB tote :)

Will give reviews on the bag soon!:P

My first North Face 100km Duo Race

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There is always rainbow after the rain

One word for the race: TOUGH!!!

Last Saturday 09 Oct 2010, I completed my first north face 100km duo race. I would like to share my experience about this trail run in Singapore. My partner for the race was Nick, but because he was sick thus another friend Zhi Zhong took over his place. *(Zhi Zhong took over the race last minute, thus he did not have any training for the race, but he is a frequent runner and the best thing of all, he did not have a water bag, all he had was a Pokka Green Tea 1.5L bottle with throughout the 50km race) **so if you are thinking of joining this race and not getting a water bag it is possible! Kudos to Zhi Zhong

Me & ZhiZhong & Legendary Kenny

1st 10km – kind of nervous when I started the race, the past of sundown 84km in 2009 still hunts me. During the first 10km from MR to rifle range road, the road was good, my pace was good averaging around 6.oo per km.

10 – 20km marks the technical part of the route, as we moved into the kampong trail and towards Singapore Quarry, up and down slope, turn left turn right. It was fun but the technical seems to wear me out faster.

20 – 30km MANDAI – the killer slopes, no trees, hot sun > I Love it!

My advise – do not force yourself up the slope, walk when you need to or simply fast march. Also route into Mandai was also the last water point, so please top up before going in, otherwise it would be another 10km before you will see the water point again. :)

if you love challenge, this is the part of the hill, I finally realized, what is mind over body. I truly Respect athletes did the 100km, because I could never imagine the thoughts of going back into Mandai hill again for the 2nd round.  :)

How long can I go?

30-40km Along Zhenhua and back to rifle range road. The 2nd tough part of the journey, because for most part of this route I was walking (fast march) about 8~9mins per km.

The last 10km – I learn that if you really want it you can get it. I did a bit of run and a bit of walk pushing myself to finish , I kept thinking if I give up at this stage all the effort& training I had earlier done would be wasted. In my opinion, I feel that TNF100 is actually tougher than Ironman, because in IM we are using different kinds muscle and each leg we can rest another part of the body, while TNF100 every moment the focus is on your legs.

Pushing to finish

Running strong with one thing in mind - TO Finished

Kudos to all people who completed the TNF100, it was a tough race.

if you have not try it, you should! :)

The North Face 100 Singapore Route Map

The new improved Terra Plana EVO II (No Mistake)

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I would like apologies to all Evo lovers. In an earlier post, I mention “I received a new minimalist footwear from barefoot. And because I was not sure of the name I called it the EVO2.“

I made a mistake. Because there is a new EVO2.

The minimalist shoe I had received was a new model named “Ultra”. It is a new additional to the minimalist shoe family among Terra Plana.:)

Now for the “No mistake” True Blue EVO 2

The New EVO 2 :) Hope I clear up the air here. I will post the updates on “Ultra” soon.



Everyday in life, you have a choice to choose.

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IRIS XV • learning to fly

I have a choice, recently I have been thinking of the possible routes to upgrade myself. Many of my friends have been uping up courses or certification such as CFA, CPA, CAIA.

So in a moment of fire, I borrow the used books from my friends to see which are the ones that interest me caused I was also planning to take up certification. So I narrowed down to 2.  CFA or CAIA. Which one should I take, both cost quite a bit of sum and most importantly they takes up a bulk of my time.

After begin in school for so long…

Primary school – 6 years

Secondary School – 5 years

Poly – 3 years

and finally University – 3.5 years

Do I really want to hit back to the books again? since I just graduated in Dec 2009. So I been thinking and pondering should I take CFA or should I take CAIA.

Which is better? if you do a search online with “which is better CFA or CAIA” you will have tons of answers.. which is good or which is better, or which one you should take first. So I decided to do up a comparison chart to help me in my decision process.

CFA level 1 CAIA level 1
Currently from my financial perspective it is slightly cheaper as compared to CAIA More expensive
Passing Rates – CFA is well known for its low passing rate thus allowing it to be the Gold Standard of Finance Compared to CFA, CAIA is much younger thus only as “powerful” as CFA despite it growing presence
Amount of time spend – CFA have much more quantitative details that I believe for me required much more time to understand.  Moreover I am very much into sports …the key question here is to ask if I am willing to give up my time for CFA in turn for a better career perhaps? I am not saying that CAIA required less time but I find CAIA content much easier to absorbed , maybe it is due to the way the study guide are constructed or because there are more strategy related topics. Eg, convertible arbitrage hedge fund (how it work and all)  it is much more interesting and since there are more hedge funds moving into Singapore now.
3 papers for CFA 2 papers for CAIA
Should I take it this Dec or Next Jun – if it is this DEC I have only 3 months to study. Do I have enough time with my current work commitment plus I have to forgo training/ running If I am taking CAIA, my plan is to complete it on 2011. Thus maybe it will help give me an better opportunity
Learning materials, CFA is widely available online While for CAIA I have to spend more and the texts changes every term thus it may not be helpful if used the old materials from my friends

But the last and most important to ask myself is am I taking this because I have a interest in this or am I doing it because all of my friends are doing it?

hmmm I will soon have an answers.

My Superhero's Special Power turn back the clock

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Going back in time

Hard Drive Clock

I would want the power to turn by the time. By having the power to turn back the time I am able to saved people from accidents, warned people of tragedy and most importantly to help people who have done things and regretted in their life, thus hoping to bring them a new life.

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Port Dickson Triathlon 2010 post thoughts and photos

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Arrived 6am at Kat's place, fixed our bike onto the bike rack and we are off to meet the rest of the guys at tuas

Finally its Saturday, I have some time to share my experience at PD 2010. As mentioned in my previous post my goal was to do less  than 3hrs and I did it! :)

Swim 0:33:20

Bike 1:09:12

Run 1:02:07

Total 02:46:24

This is my first time doing an OD and I must it sure is fun, the race is full of adrenaline. Once you are in the swim, everything seems to be going at full speed, heart pounding … there is no time to rest:P

Once you are up from swim you just rush to the bike and off you go. Unlike Ironman, I still have a bit time to wear my socks and make sure all of my bike gear before I go off. The same goes for run, during IM I still have a bit of time to sit down and put on “counter pain” hahaaha

Here are some photos that I would like to share with everyone, if you have not try Port Dickson Tri before, you should go for it. It is cheaper than OSIM, Nice place and views and of course much more fun than concrete Singapore.:P

Reached PD around 2pm, This is the offical hotel we stayed in. Cheap & Good

The Famous "Uncle Chan" giving his technical briefing - Uncle Chan is the organiser for most of the triathlon races in Malaysia

The PD 2010 race routeGetting ready with all my stuffs in place

Bike all fixed up

Race day - 0600hrs everyone getting ready and having the bike in place

Loading up my stuffs, so that I can get it easily after coming up from the swim

0700hrs - Swim Start

A photo before Swim start

0735hrs And GO!!!!

a total "shag" face - not enough training for Swim

Bike Route - I was quite surprise that I actually did the 40km route at the AVG of 35km/h. Oh and the route is very much like mandai too up slope and down slope and up slope again...

Finishing

After the Race, Time for Food

and More Food!!!

Finally a word to Car drivers